I've always loved telling stories, but never enjoyed writing. When I found photography, it was the perfect medium for me to express myself. With each shoot, I unveil the unique stories of my subjects, and tell them with beautiful imagery. People often tell me that they feel like they know my clients just from reading my blog.

They say photographs are the only tangible memories, which means that my perspective is how you will remember some of the most important moments in your life. With that in mind, I have to capture the details (big and small) in the most beautiful light. I want you to laugh and cry when you look at your photos. Whether it's your wedding day or your babies growing up, time goes by so fast, so it's my job to document your story... beautifully.

A common question I get from photographers is how do I handle all the post production when I shoot 4-5 sessions a week. A common comment I get from non-photographers is how easy my job is to only work a few hours a day. Recently, I did some calculations and I shoot about 14 hrs a week, on average. The part that I didn’t realize until I hired an assistant is that between my assistant and I, we edit for at least 40 hours a week. After you add the hours spent on email, meetings, prepping… there’s not much time left for me. My new years resolution for this year was to seek balance. I LOVE what I do, so it’s really easy to be a workaholic. I need to consciously make more time for myself. One way I’m hoping to achieve more balance is by shooting film. It feels so good to send off my film at the end of a shoot and just wait for the surprise a few days later… resuming my life in the meantime. It’s like Christmas each time I get my scans back. This was the first time I shot 100% film. I didn’t even bring my digital camera. Since this session, I’ve shot 2 other sessions 100% film! Oh yeah, and this is also my first time shooting with my new (to me) Contax 645. I love how creamy it is!

Huge thanks to Alice for setting up this fun shoot at Condor’s Nest Ranch. Condor’s Nest Ranch is such a unique and gorgeous venue for weddings! When we left LA/OC, the weather was super sunny, but once we got into SD, it was super cloudy! As soon as all models and photographers arrived, it was pouring. Lucky for me, my first set of models, Natalie Brewter & Rob Burdick, were total troopers and were willing to shoot in the rain! I wondered if my Contax was okay in the rain though…

Condor’s Nest Ranch had the cutest animals! That little donkey above was one of our favorites, but don’t let the cuteness fool you! He was actually one of the meanest animals on the farm. While we were shooting, all the animals suddenly went nuts. All the animals started to run around and scream. We look over and this donkey was chasing the lamas, who was chasing a goat, who was chasing a horse… you get the idea.

And who can resist a red barn?? On a side note, we went into the barn and saw the cutest baby goats!! We wanted to play with them, but mama was quite protective.

Such beautiful horses… who will try to eat your sleeves (Rob has stains to prove it).

Natalie & Rob are so awesome. You couldn’t tell from looking at them, but they were freezing, rained on, & avoiding the horses who wanted to eat everything the wore.

One of my favorite portrait:

Our next 2 models, Matthew Lindbald and Kaylie Wilson, were also total troopers and braved the pouring rain!

Isn’t Kaylie gorgeous?

It was totally pouring by this point. You can see how thick the clouds are!

So after all the models left and when we were getting ready to leave, of course, the sun comes out! I really wanted to test out my Contax in different lighting situations, especially back lighting, so thanks Serena & Sarah for modeling for me.

These are so gorgeous, Caroline! Do you think you’re going to shoot primarily with your Contax 645 now? I definitely fancy the way the photos from this camera and the Fujifilm come out. That + your mad skillz = stunning photos. Keep it up!

I came home from NY today with the pleasant surprise that I was featured on Style Me Pretty while I was gone! NY was amazing! Such an amazing city! The crazy part is that we were at time square and didn’t even know there was a car bomb there until we got home and saw it on the news! So glad nothing blew up! On to happier matters, let me share this cute bridal shower with you.

Linda from Lumiani Events is usually the one planning events for other people, so it was so great to see her surprised with a party where she was the guest of honor! The ladies at Lumiani Events did a wonderful job planning and decorating this charming backyard shower for her.

They did all the decor & flowers themselves!

The refreshing drinks were perfectly displayed for this warm backyard party!

And who can resist Sprinkles cupcakes, right?

One of Linda’s favorite cake & bakeries is from Susina. The cake is amazing!

Each girl who arrived received a ring pop. If you say “Linda”, you have to forfeit your ring to the person who first called you on it. Her future sister-in-law was the master at this game:

Another activity was the underwear decorating contest. Guests decorated throughout the day and hung them up for Linda to judge.

The winner also cracked me up!

I love their hearts theme!

You see those vintage chairs & benches? The benches were all made by Linda’s fiance for their wedding ceremony. What a keeper, right? lol.

Their flower arrangements were so simple, but so very charming!

And I just love their tablescape!

Congrats to Linda & Dat! Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness! Linda, hope you have fun with all your new toys from the shower! *wink wink*

On a random technical note, this was shot mostly on Kodak film… expired in 2007. The rest is digital. With one of the cameras we bought, the seller threw in rolls of Kodak film. I thought I’d try it out for the sake of it. After using them, I looked and realized that they expired in 2007. The colors needed a little correcting, but that’s it.

Wow, this is one of the most beautiful showers I have seen! I love all the different colorful details and you just captured everything so beautifully! Not surprised that it would be featured on Style Me Pretty b/c of how lovely it is!!

THANK YOU CAROLINE!! You’re superwoman! The images are amazing, it’s more than I ever expected. I love the shots/composition. You captured the details but more than that … you captured the moments … the laughter, games, and just the love for Linda as her girlfriends gathered to celebrate HER before her and Dat’s big day! Thank you for making the time to come … I know your schedule is hectic! Love it!!! You were an absolute surprise for her and she loved it. It’s great when everyone can just relax and have the professional capture the special moments like the ones at a bridal shower! Thank you!!!!

I’m flying out to NY today! It’ll be my first time there and I’m so excited! Before I leave, I thought I would share the first wedding I shot in 2010! I first met Jen at a Starbucks on her “lunch” break, though it was like 8:30pm! They both work in the music industry and have crazy hours, so after one of my shoots, I stopped by to meet her by her work. It was instant chemistry between us. She shared how they were on a budget and will be DIYing everything. Her family has a tradition where stay up the night before doing all the flowers, including the centerpieces. To reduce the workload the day before, she limited the number of fresh flowers for her centerpieces. I love how this wedding was an entire family affair!

I love how Jen’s wearing her mom’s robe here. And I love how they made all the boutonnieres with non-florals:

A tender moment between mom & daughter:

All ready to see her groom!

Love all the fun socks:

The maid of honor in blue is Jen’s cousin, Jackie, who helped her plan most of the day:

I just love this photo. I’m not sure why, but it’s one of my favorites from the day:

And I love the anticipation before the ceremony… can you tell it was a cold January afternoon? You couldn’t tell by looking at Jen!

I love the big tree they got married under.

Their DIY bouquets & bouts turned out great:

Favors for the kids, and a little scavenger hunt for the kids… they each got disposable cameras and had to capture as many things on this list they could. Jen & Paul would then also have their wedding day captured through the eyes of kids!

Jen wanted to incorporate her Vietnamese culture, so guests received these little drums:

They did such a good job on their own centerpieces! And it was cute that tables were lettered instead of numbered… but I guess that only works when you have less than 26 tables.

Jen’s beautiful traditional Vietnamese gown, called an ao dai.

I love how clean their decor was. Their tent was beautifully decorated.

The reception was kicked off by lion dancers!

I love this moment between Jen & her grandma:

One of the funniest best man speeches:

And yes, they broke out in full Backstreet Boys!

The band was even personal friends/co-workers/boss of Paul.

Cute moment on the dance floor. (great capture, Jonathan!)

Have a great weekend everyone!! (though I know it’s only Wednesday) I’ll see you again next week!

I love their simplicity clean decors! what did they make their center pieces from? what a great idea on the scavengar hunt! did they start that from the beginning of the wedding? if i didn’t know she was in the music industry, i’d guess she was a perschool teacher. the letters and emphasis on kids. beautiful job as always

This is the cutest wedding thus far. I love all the dyi projects. I am totally inspired by their creativity.

Jennifer Ha Than -May 6, 2010 - 10:01 am

It ‘s very original & divine to see your images had captured like it is ! Great talents .

By the way , me & my husband Viet Nguyen happen to be Jen’s parents close friend & we both live in Manhattan , NY City . If you have time , I , myself would love to host or meet you ….. For whatever I can offer like eating tips, shopping tips …. Please feel free to give me a call OK . Looking forward to hear & meet you .

Lana Buu -May 6, 2010 - 4:54 pm

I absolutely loved all of the photos! I was not able to be present for the wedding of the happy couple because I was out of the country. However, it was wonderful to see all of the details from the scavenger hunt to all of the DIY accents. You have truly captured the joy and elegance of this special occasion. Bravo!

Photo above was taken at a wedding a few months ago. One of my favorite wedding portraits to date.

Happy Monday, all! If you have emailed me and I have not responded, I’m on it! Emails have been coming in faster than I can reply. I’m working on them today though. I just wanted to do a quick update to answer the most common questions I have been getting…

My wedding calendar is booked through April 2011. It breaks my heart to say no to a nice couple, so I’d rather not know what I’m missing out on. It’s also in my nature to want to be helpful, so to tell someone that I can’t help them is really hard for me. I naturally want to find a way to help. So to make it easier for me, I am letting people know here that I am only booking weddings for April 2011 and on.

My other favorite thing (besides weddings) is portrait sessions. I love the intimate nature of them. I shoot my portrait sessions (engagements, boudoir, family, babies, etc.) on weekdays. The next available date I have is in June July. Edit: after this post, June filled up. I now have a few more spots left in July – they’re filling up quick though!

I have/will be traveling more these weeks than I have probably in my entire life! I feel so incredibly lucky! We just shot in SF two weekends in a row. In the next month, I will be also going to New York, Hawaii (Oahu), & France. Let me know if you’re in the area and want to meet up! I’d love to try and set up a lunch date with you all!

Thank you for your continued support! I have a lot of editing & emails to catch up on at the moment, but more blog posts are on the way!

so awesome that your business is doing so well and that you get to travel to places!! are you still gonna have time to mentor? =) i have my blog up now. hope you’ll have time to stop by & would love to hear any feedback you may have. xoxo.

That is a stunning image, I can see why it’s a favourite. I bet the couple adore it too.

kristi klemens -April 28, 2010 - 6:14 pm

I can’t even believe you would consider taking time to meet with me when you are SO busy woman! You are such an amazing photographer and I continue to be inspired by your work! Not only that, but an incredible person, SO excited to have you here in the area, keepin’ it real sista! Much love & happiness! x0x0

when will you be on oahu? will you be accepting any portrait sessions while there?

Amy Morgenstern -August 7, 2010 - 12:21 pm

Caroline, I just wanted to contact you to also ask if you’re available for a wedding/engagement/portrait session during the week or an “off” day for a wedding. I know you have mentioned you are booked through April, but wondered if that included Thur,Fri, or Sun weddings? I am flexible and really would like to know more of my options with your work! Thank you!